AG contends army must immediately issue 7,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men
Gali Baharav-Miara says 4,500 of the notices can’t have exemptions for yeshiva students; Haredi parties said to complain that IDF plan to issue the orders contravenes PM’s pledge
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has told top legal, political and military officials that 7,000 enlistment orders to ultra-Orthodox men must be issued immediately — as the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday said it plans to do at the start of next week — in order to comply with the law and the state’s pledges before relevant courts.
According to Hebrew media reports, Baharav-Miara voiced this opinion in a meeting on Tuesday, contending that any delay or limiting of the orders is unlawful.
She also said 4,500 of the orders must be issued without taking into account whether the recipients are yeshiva students or not.
The army has in recent weeks sent 3,000 draft orders to Haredi men, primarily those who are employed and aren’t full-time yeshiva students. Only 273 of them showed up at IDF recruitment centers and even fewer of them, 48, have since enlisted, reflecting the strong opposition within the community to joining the military.
Baharav-Miara’s instructions came as the IDF readies to send out the 7,000 new orders, which defense minister Yoav Gallant approved only a day before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired him last week.
New Defense Minister Israel Katz has not canceled the controversial move. Therefore, the IDF still plans to send them out at the start of next week.
The IDF’s announcement irked the coalition’s ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties, which according to the Kan public broadcaster said it goes against a pledge made to them last week by Netanyahu.
The report said that when Netanyahu confirmed Katz as Gallant’s replacement, he conveyed a message to the Haredi parties — who fiercely oppose ultra-Orthodox enlistment to the military — that Katz would cancel the decision to issue the new orders.
The network reported that Netanyahu’s office has denied conveying such a message, but noted that his ultra-Orthodox partners insist this is what they were promised.
Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have pushed for the passage of a law regulating military exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the Haredi community, after the High Court ruled in June that the dispensations, in place for decades, were illegal. Most Israelis outside the community want to scrap the broad Haredi exemptions from IDF service.
Gallant was seen as one of the main obstacles to the bill in its current form — which would enshrine the decades-long exemption of the Haredi community from IDF and other national service — before being fired by Netanyahu. He described it after his sacking as a “discriminatory, corrupt law.” He claimed his opposition to the law was one of the main factors behind his dismissal, which came while Israel is fighting wars on two fronts and is facing a severe manpower shortage in the military.
Netanyahu denied Gallant was fired for political reasons, instead citing their disagreements on how to manage the war effort.
But according to Hebrew media reports on Monday, Netanyahu is readying to revive the controversial bill, with one of his top aides reportedly telling coalition leaders that Gallant’s axing would pave the way for the legislation to advance. The High Court ruled in June that the mass Haredi exemptions from service are illegal, and ordered that the Haredim be drafted.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
